A Pain Hidden Away
by Ronnieex
Summary: Everyone thought that the biggest thing that Jaden had ever faced was having low grade, barely a passing mark. But is there something deeper that his friends don't know about? Jaden doesn't talk about his life before Duel Academy. Is this why? R&R! Spoilers for the end of season 3, the REAL end, which 4Kids didn't bother to dub (lazy a-holes).


_Hi guys._

_I know it's been a LONG time since I've been online. As it turned out, I have had a pretty hectic couple of years and barely had the time to come on. I had two years of college and then family dramas and then, more recently, my grandmother passed away so I didn't feel like coming on. But I have a new drabble for you all today so hopefully this will stir up all those creative juices flowing around so I can write more. _

_For Mew Mew on Academy Island readers, I HAVE NOT GIVEN UP ON THAT STORY! I wrote another six chapters but then I lost the book I wrote them in (again!) so I've had to write them again and they keep coming out wrong. I don't know when it will be updated next but there will be an update soon-ish. _

_While I was writing this drabble, I was trying to write the fourth installment of my Dark World series but for some reason, it morphed into this instead but I like it. Explains some things for me actually so I'm hoping it does that for you guys as well. It is mainly written in past-tense (which I had to fight my muse to write because she hates past-tense), just so you guys don't get confused. _

_Hope you enjoy and please, if you like it, give me a buzz by reviewing. I'd love to hear from everyone who reads this story. Thanks!_

**X-X**

Everyone thought that the biggest problem Jaden had ever had was having low grades, just barely above a pass.

But they were wrong.

Jaden had been hurt before. Badly. When he was young, his friends back home stopped coming around to duel him, which he never could seem to remember why they refused to. To make matters worse, when he'd walk by at school or in the park on his way home, they'd whispered about him, just loud enough for him to hear the echo of their words.

They called him a freak, a monster, even a demon. Some began calling him Damien while giggling under their breath, a nickname that Jaden didn't understand until he was about ten. They'd called him that because the anti-christ in Omen was called Damien and weird things were happening around Jaden, just like Damien in the movie. When Jaden had come to realise this truth, he'd locked himself away for days, refusing to come out to go to school or even eat because he couldn't stop crying.

It was hard. But the thing that brought him out of his room after days of crying was his parents, Robert and Holly, cutting their extended business trip short to come home to him. The house keeper had called them and they'd been worried enough to come home. The moment Jaden had heard their voices outside his door, he'd ripped it open and thrown himself into their waiting arms, sobbing and apologizing for being a freak, a monster.

They hadn't needed to say anything. They just held him and let him get it all out. Jaden's parents had made him talk everything out with them and reassured him that he wasn't a freak or a monster. His father had nearly started shouting in anger directed towards the people hurting his son, but Jaden had stopped that in its tracks. He didn't want any more trouble.

For months, things stayed the same. The whispers still kept coming but Jaden learned to ignore them. He practiced his dueling in secret, locking his cards away when he went out so they couldn't be stolen out of his locker or from him by kids at school. If the months of whispers and secret dueling practice did anything permanent to him, all it did was strengthen his determination to become a pro duelist and prove everyone wrong about him.

For Jaden's fourteenth birthday, his parents had presented him with a brochure for Duel Academy. They'd arranged for him to have his entry exam and duel in a few months, which is how long the exam and the duel had to be booked in advance for. He'd burst into tears of joy and hugged his parents to the point of suffocation. It was the best present he'd ever been given, from anyone. And it meant even more to him that it was from his parents, the two people who loved him beyond anything else, despite the weirdness that had surrounded him for years.

It comforted his parents as well that Jaden had found an outlet for his emotions, especially when it was an outlet that he'd had so much joy and excitement in practicing. They'd hear him whisper battle strategies and mock duels from their room when they would lay down to sleep and it always brought smiles to their faces. They weren't able to be home a lot for their son because of their demanding jobs but when they were home, they always tried to make up for it by engaging in things that Jaden enjoyed and things that were family oriented. Robert even tried his hand at dueling Jaden, but lost after only a few rounds.

The joy on Robert's son's face when they'd dueled was more beautiful and magical than almost anything else that Robert had ever seen, apart from his wife and Jaden's mother, Holly.

When it came time for Jaden's entry duel, he'd been so nervous the night before that he had tossed and turned for hours, only just getting to sleep when the sun rose. The housekeeper had to wake Jaden up because his parents had unexpectedly gone for a week long trip to South America for business and couldn't be there for Jaden in the morning.

Jaden had sworn under his break once he'd seen how late it was. In an almost record breaking time, he was dressed, hair combed, duel disk and deck ready and out the door, running towards the Kaiba dome where the duels were taking place. He'd arrived late and only by sheer luck did he get his entry duel.

It had surprised Jaden that he was dueling one of the professors at the school but didn't complain. He'd simply smiled, loaded his deck up and shouted, "Duel!"

He'd made friends that day, friends who didn't know about his past, who didn't know about the pain he'd gone through and he was grateful. A fresh start; the clean state Jaden had been searching for.


End file.
